International Journal of Molecular Sciences Review Mucopolysaccharidosis Type II: One Hundred Years of Research, Diagnosis, and Treatment Francesca D’Avanzo 1,2 , Laura Rigon 2,3 , Alessandra Zanetti 1,2 and Rosella Tomanin 1,2,* 1 Laboratory of Diagnosis and Therapy of Lysosomal Disorders, Department of Women’s and Children ‘s Health, University of Padova, Via Giustiniani 3, 35128 Padova, Italy;
[email protected] (F.D.);
[email protected] (A.Z.) 2 Fondazione Istituto di Ricerca Pediatrica “Città della Speranza”, Corso Stati Uniti 4, 35127 Padova, Italy;
[email protected] 3 Molecular Developmental Biology, Life & Medical Science Institute (LIMES), University of Bonn, 53115 Bonn, Germany * Correspondence:
[email protected] Received: 17 January 2020; Accepted: 11 February 2020; Published: 13 February 2020 Abstract: Mucopolysaccharidosis type II (MPS II, Hunter syndrome) was first described by Dr. Charles Hunter in 1917. Since then, about one hundred years have passed and Hunter syndrome, although at first neglected for a few decades and afterwards mistaken for a long time for the similar disorder Hurler syndrome, has been clearly distinguished as a specific disease since 1978, when the distinct genetic causes of the two disorders were finally identified. MPS II is a rare genetic disorder, recently described as presenting an incidence rate ranging from 0.38 to 1.09 per 100,000 live male births, and it is the only X-linked-inherited mucopolysaccharidosis. The complex disease is due to a deficit of the lysosomal hydrolase iduronate 2-sulphatase, which is a crucial enzyme in the stepwise degradation of heparan and dermatan sulphate.